Abstract
This chapter recounts the history of the Focolare Movement in Taiwan. In so doing, it aims to illustrate how one of the “new ecclesial movements” has interacted with the local Church, thus providing a concrete instance of the intersection between the hierarchical and charismatic dimensions of Catholicism in the post-conciliar period and also offering a recent example of mission in Taiwan to complement the earlier stories of religious orders. After a brief presentation of the origins and nature of the Focolare, the chapter examines how the Movement first came in contact with the Church in Taiwan and then moves on to a discussion of the main developments in the ensuing decades as it has sought to incarnate its spirituality of unity within the local context.
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Notes
- 1.
Schoenstatt, for instance, was founded in 1914, while in 1921 it was the turn of the Legion of Mary, which has had a central role in the life of the Church in China (particularly Shanghai) and in Taiwan.
- 2.
- 3.
On the meaning of the term “charism,” which derives from the Greek charisma (generous gift) and first appears in the Pauline letters, see section 4 of Iuvenescit.
- 4.
As Joseph Ratzinger argues, throughout the history of the Church, “movements” have arisen through the stirrings of the Spirit which have a universal dimension and may thus help to renew the local churches and assist their bishops, in their role as successors to the apostles, of transcending their local ecclesial ministry and expressing the universality of Christ’s mission (1999, 39). See also Lumen Gentium 2.12.
- 5.
Much of what is summarized here was recounted by Lubich herself in Fu Jen University in 1997 (Lubich 2016, 104–07). For the many versions of the story of the birth of the Movement recounted by Lubich over the years, see the appendix, “Liste delle storie dell’Ideale scritte o raccontate o da Chiara Lubich,” in Vandeleene 2009, 369–75. For a biography of Lubich and a history of the development of the Movement since its birth, see Torno (2012).
- 6.
The official name of the Movement as approved in 1963 is the Work of Mary; however, it is more generally known as the Focolare, while its consecrated members are known as focolarini (male) and focolarine (female).
- 7.
See the entry for the “Work of Mary,” the official name for the Focolare Movement in Directory.
- 8.
The term, for which no English equivalent exists, literally means “bearers of fire” and was originally given as a nickname to the first group of people who began living the spirituality by the people of Trent, who were struck by the fire of their love.
- 9.
God-Love; God’s Will; The Word; Love of Neighbor; Mutual Love; Eucharist; The Gift of Unity; Jesus Forsaken; Mary; The Church-Communion; The Holy Spirit; Jesus in the Midst.
- 10.
There is some uncertainty regarding these early years. Professor Bennie Callebaut of the Sophia University Institute , Loppiano, Florence, who has carried out work in the early archives of the Movement, told me in a conversation in June 2016 that he came across mentions of Chinese priests having contact with the Movement as early as 1949. According to the testimony of the then Archbishop of Taipei, Ti-Kang, in the introductory address that he gave on the occasion of the awarding of an honorary doctorate to Lubich by Fu Jen University in 1997, Archbishop Yupin participated twice in the Mariapolis , in 1956 and 1957 (Lubich 2016, 97). However, the fact that he was interviewed by the magazine of the Movement, Città Nuova , in 1959 (see below), may suggest that he was present in this year. The personal testimony of Silvio Daneo and Maddalena Cariolato would suggest that the other clerics mentioned were present on more than one occasion.
- 11.
See Chap. 28 of Chabonnier (2007) for a brief outline of the history of the Catholic Church in postwar Taiwan. Chabonnier gives a figure of 12 priests for 1949, expanding to over 400, both Chinese and foreign in the 1950s, and notes that numbers of Catholics rose from barely 10,000 at the end of the war to 170,000 in 1959, expanding to 240,000 just by 1963, most being recent converts (483–84).
- 12.
Although it still remains private, there was a regular correspondence between the Cardinal and Lubich according to the archivists of the Chiara Lubich Center in Rome, whom I interviewed during a visit there in June 2016.
- 13.
Interview with Daneo, March 24, 2016. Daneo has recently published a book on his life, including details of his years in Asia (2015). All interviews were carried out by the author, in person or on Skype.
- 14.
Report written by Holzhauser in 1969, held in the Chiara Lubich Center Archive, Rome.
- 15.
Email to author, Daneo, April 14, 2016.
- 16.
Email to author, Cariolato, March 19, 2016.
- 17.
Interview, Fr. Elias Cerezo, April 13, 2016.
- 18.
Interview, Dimar Ho, April 4, 2016.
- 19.
Interview, Eddie Hsueh, May 4, 2016.
- 20.
Dimar Ho, Eddie Hsueh and Hu Kung-tze all made similar points in this regard.
- 21.
On the participation of the “Bishops, Friends of the Movement” in the life of the Focolare, see Statutes 2008, 29.
- 22.
Interview, Manfried Kögler (April 10, 2016) and Cariolato (June 30, 2016).
- 23.
- 24.
In other words, love the other as they would like to be loved by identifying ourselves completely with them, as St. Paul says: “To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some” (1 Cor 9:22).
- 25.
It is interesting that Chiara, both on this occasion and also when she went to Hong Kong in 1982, spoke primarily of love. Her stimulus in Hong Kong was the words of Pope Paul VI during his visit in 1970, which she said could be summarized in the words “love, love, love” (Lubich 1982).
- 26.
Father Cerezo suggested both of these as reasons.
- 27.
These are points made by Santina Chan, for many years responsible for the women’s center in Taipei, interview, June 24, 2016.
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Reynolds, B.K. (2018). The Focolare Movement in Taiwan: Global Vision, Local Context. In: So, F., Leung, B., Mylod, E. (eds) The Catholic Church in Taiwan. Christianity in Modern China. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6665-8_8
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